The first lady’s glorious hat set the tone and stole the show

WaPo ^ | 04-24-2018 | Robin Givhan

[NRx]

The day began with a hat. It ended with the hat, too. Not literally, but nostalgically. Over the course of 12 hours, no Cézanne at the National Gallery, no forest of cherry blossom branches, no Clinton or Bush china, no goat cheese gâteau, not even Chanel haute couture could compare to that magnificent halo of pure white light perched atop first lady Melania Trump’s perfectly groomed head. Nothing else mattered. There was nothing else.

That hat, broad-brimmed with a high, blocked crown, announced the first lady’s presence as boldly and theatrically as a brigade of trumpeters. It was the bright white hat of a gladiator worn on an overcast day, a kind of glamorous public shield when sunglasses would not do at all. That hat was a force field that kept folks, the wrong folks, from getting too close.

It was a diva crown. A grand gesture of independence. A church hat. The Lord is my shepherd. Deliver us from evil. Amen.

Mrs. Trump began her Tuesday in the hat when she greeted French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, at the state arrival ceremony on the South Lawn. She stood erect on her stiletto heels next to President Trump, who wore a dark overcoat, which was neatly buttoned, and a blue and white striped tie.

[gigster]

Joe Cocker:”You can leave your Hat on.”